Fear
by RuthlessStyleFreak
Summary: {Complete} While at the beach, Joey is forced to face his biggest fear once again. Will he succeed, or will it come back to-ahem-bite him? 1st Full House fanfic. Please be kind! Review!
1. Chapter One

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that is on television . . . kind of depressing when you think about it.

A/N: This is my first "Full House" fanfic, so please be kind!  It centers around my favorite character and, who I think, was _very_ underused: Joey.  And I put it under 'angst' for a reason.

Summary: While at the beach, Joey is forced to face his biggest fear once again.  Will he succeed, or will it come back to *ahem* bite him?  Expect flashbacks and what-not.

**Chapter One**

"Michelle, breakfast is ready!"  Danny Tanner called his youngest daughter from his kitchen.  To his surprise, he got a reply on the first call.

"Okay," she yelled back.  Upon hearing the footsteps coming down the stairs, Danny sat down at the table in between Joey and Stephanie.  Michelle entered the kitchen, still in her pajamas, and with a big smile on her face.

Jesse, looking slightly taken aback at his niece's attire, asked, "Munchkin, don't you look happy.  But why are you still in your P.J.s?"

"Because it's the first day of summer, duh!" she replied, sitting down next to her uncle.  "And that means no school 'til August."  Michelle cut off a piece of her waffle and shoved it into her mouth.

"I know, I'm so excited," stated DJ, a grin appearing on her face as well, "but I really don't know what to do.  I mean, Steve is going to Michigan with his parents, and I _can't _go all of the way over there."

"Wait . . . Steve is in college," interrupted Stephanie, "so why is he going somewhere with his _parents_?"

"Well, he said it was because he hadn't really done anything with them for awhile and needs some 'quality time' or whatever.  But I think that the real reason is that one of his high school friends lives in Michigan and he needs an excuse to go there."

Stephanie raised her eyebrow at her older sister as she took a sip of her water.  "So," she began, "what _are_ we going to do?"

"Don't you kids want to go back to Camp Lakota?" asked Becky.  "I remember last year you guys had so much fun that you never wanted to leave," she chuckled.

"Yeah, until we got stuck in the cabin during that storm," said Michelle.  "Now I'm _never going back there." _

"Well, why don't you guys get a summer job?  That should keep you occupied until summer ends," suggested Danny.

"Dad, no . . . just, no," remarked DJ.  "The only thing that getting a summer job will accomplish is make the summer go by slower."

"Isn't that what you kids want?"  DJ rolled her eyes at her father's remark.

"Well, you could do what I'm going to do: sleep, eat, and watch cartoons," said Joey with a sigh.  "I love summer."

"Joey, you can do that any time you want," stated Jesse.

"Yeah, but the fact that it's summer makes it, I don't know, special."  He sighed again, staring off into space.

"Anyways," began Jesse, giving Joey an odd glance, "what to do for summer.  Umm . . ." There was a moment of silence as everyone waited for Jesse's suggestion.  "I got it!" he said loudly, clapping his hands together, which caused everyone else to jump slightly.  "The beach.  We'll all go to the beach tomorrow."

"Uncle Jesse, that's a great idea!" said DJ.

"Yes, I know."

"So, there's one day of our summer gone, how about the rest?"

Everyone else chuckled at DJ's statement, until Jesse glared at them with a sarcastic nod.  "Right, well, we'll just have to figure out the rest of the days when the time comes, won't we?" he asked, scornfully.  Everyone nodded in agreement.

_Later that Day . . ._

Joey was sitting on the couch, flipping stations on the television.  He finally landed on a station as he took a sip of his soda.  

The station turned out to be a news program.  An anchorwoman was reporting from the San Francisco Beach, which caught Joey's eye.  He sat upright and watched the screen.

"Kids have been out of school not nearly a day and already they're flocking to the beach with their families and friends.  But the beach is not nearly as crowded since word got out of a shark sighting about one hundred yards from the beach.  Lifeguards are on full-watch, and will notify all beach-goers to evacuate the water at the first sign of a shark.  Whether this shark is harmless is unknown, but the beach would like everyone to be extra careful.  This is Cheryl Ropman, channel two news coverage."

Joey quickly turned off the television and set the remote control on the coffee table.  He sat, unmoving, with a look of fear on his face until he bolted into a standing position.  "Jesse!  Danny!" he yelled, running up the stairs and into Jesse's room. 

He saw Jesse and Danny trying to flip over Jesse and Becky's mattress, unsuccessfully.  "Joey, what is it?" groaned Danny, under the weight of the mattress.

"I-I . . . it . . . TV . . . no," he stammered, out of breath.  

"Not . . . now, Joey," grunted Jesse, releasing the mattress, so that it fell into place.  "Okay, what is it?"

"Did you know about the, umm, problem with the beach?"

"Problem?  Like what, no sand?  No water?  It's hard for there to be a problem _with_ a beach, Joe."

"Yeah, well, there's water, but there's something _in the water that may be of some concern to you."_

"Such as . . . ?" asked Danny, gesturing for his best friend to continue.

"A shark!  There is a shark in the water at the beach!"  Joey said, giving each word an emphasis.

"Really?  What kind of a shark?" asked Jesse.  

"They don't know, but who cares?!  The fact that there is a shark in the water is a good enough reason not to go."

"Joe, you can't let your fear keep you from doing something," said Danny, placing his hand on Joey's shoulder.

"Actually, it is a good reason."

"I don't get it.  _What happened to you when you were a kid that made you so freaked out?" asked Jesse._

"Do you really want to know?" asked Joey, unsure.

"Yeah."

"Okay . . ."

_Begin Flashback . . ._

_A young Joey, about the age of seven,  is at the beach with his mother and father.  "Joey, do you want to go into the water?"  _

_"Yeah!" shrieked the very-excited boy, grabbing his inflatable tube and rushing towards the ocean._

_"I can't believe that we waited this long to take him to the beach," Joey's father whispered to his wife.  _

_ "I know, but it doesn't matter.  He sure is excited, isn't he?"_

_"Yes he is," replied Mr. Gladstone, as his son began to wade in the shallow water.  "I'll go with him."  He walked over to where Joey was splashing and picked him up.  "Hey, you wanna go into the deeper water?"_

_Joey nodded his head excitedly as his father walked into the deeper water.  The water was up to Mr. Gladstone's stomach when he stopped.  "Here, Joe, why don't you float here?"  He took the tube from his son and laid it down gently on the water.  He then placed his son inside the tube.  _

_Joey grinned at his father as he rested on the top of the water.  _

_Mr. Gladstone turned away from his son as Mrs. Gladstone called his name.  "Do you want me to come out there, too?!" she called._

_"Sure," he called back.  "Oh, and could you bring me a drink?!"  He saw her nod and pull out a bottle from their cooler.  _

_Mr. Gladstone turned back to where his son had been, only to discover that he was no longer there.  "Joey?  Joey?!"  He spotted his son not twenty feet away from him.  'Wow, that kid can move fast,' he thought, beginning to wade over to his son._

_As he got closer, there was something that caught his eye.  There was a small, dark shape underneath his son's legs.  He began to move faster towards Joey._

_Joey saw his father coming at him, and began to kick away from him.  Suddenly, he felt a sharp pain in his leg.  As he cried out in pain, he saw a small, unforgettable, shape of a shark, about two meters long, swim away from him as he father rushed over to him.  _

_He picked up his son and saw a long cut on his son's leg, about five inches long.  Luckily, it wasn't very deep, but it was bleeding fiercely.  He carried his son to the shore, where his wife was waiting, anxiously . . ._

_End Flashback . . ._

". . . and then some lifeguard came up and . . . the rest is sort of a blur."

"Aw, Joe, I'm sorry.  Well, _now_ that Disney incident makes sense," said Jesse.

Joey nodded.  "Yeah, so, ever since then, I've never wanted to be around sharks again.  I mean, sure, it was just a 'slash wound,' as the lifeguard put it, but it was a very traumatizing experience for me."

"I understand, Joey, but why didn't you tell me?  I mean, we've been best friends for, well, ever."

"I just . . . never found a good time to, and I figured that you'd find out on your own.  But you didn't; you didn't even find it odd when I wore long pants in the ninety-five degree weather."

Danny raised his eyebrows.  "Well, Joey, the girls will be really disappointed if you don't go, you know."

"I know, which is why I _am_ going to go, but I am _not_ getting in the water . . . at all.  No matter how much you pressure me."

"Don't worry, we won't pressure you."

"Oh, and Jess, are you bringing the twins with you?" asked Joey, crossing his arms.

Jesse shook his head.  "Naw, we're getting . . ."  He took in a deep breath.  ". . .Gibbler to baby-sit them."

Joey gritted his teeth and Danny recoiled slightly.  "What do you think she'll ruin?" Danny asked, as the three of them left the attic.

_To Be Continued . . ._

A/N-Please review and tell me if this is any good.  No flames though.  I know, sort of contradicted myself, but still . . . okay, as soon as I get ten reviews, I'll continue.  Unless I never get ten, then I'll just continue anyway.

  
  



	2. Chapter Two

Disclaimer: See chapter one.

A/N-First of all, Happy New Year, guys!  Many thanks to all of my reviewers.  Oh, and to "Me," thank you for the information.  I will definitely be able to use that for this story.  So thanks again!

I've been gone for about a week and a half; up to spend X-Mas with my family up north.  I spent every chance I got working on this chapter and, even though it's 12:13 AM on January 1, I decided to type it up and post it.  

Man, the things I do for you. *grins*

**Chapter Two**

The next morning, Joey awoke to two small boys jumping on his chest.  He cracked one eye open, only for a second, but it did not go unnoticed.  "Joey!" they squealed in unison.

Joey responded with a snore, but it only succeeded in making the twins continue their jumping.  "Joey!" they shrieked again, flopping down on either side of the half-asleep form beneath the covers.  

Joey moaned loudly, hiding his head underneath his pillow, taking in a deep breath.  "C'mon, Joey, we've gotta get ready to go!"  "C'mon!"  Nicky and Alex jumped off of Joey's bed and ran out of the room, laughing with glee. 

Joey heard the twins' footsteps leave and released a sigh of relief.  He pulled his head out from under his pillow and rolled onto his stomach, thinking that he was going to be able to go back to sleep . . .

Or not . . .

Jesse was, at that moment, being led into the bedroom by his sons, who were each clinging to one of his hands as he allowed them to drag him along.  The three of them stopped in the doorway, watching a now-asleep Joey.

Jesse grinned evilly and knelt down to face Nicky and Alex, and began whispering to them.  He then stood back upright and slowly approached his friend's bed.  "And . . . NOW!" he shouted, running at full speed towards the bed, closely followed by his sons. They all leaped onto the bed, jumping joyfully and laughing, as well as shaking Joey.  

Joey rolled onto his back and covered his face with his hands.  "No, I don't want to get up," he whined.  "Besides, it's only-" He glanced at his watch.  "-ten o'clock."  He pulled his pillow over his face.  "Go without me," he moaned, his voice muffled by the fabric.

"Nope, you're coming with us, buddy," replied Jesse, yanking the pillow from Joey's face and tossing it onto the floor.

"Yeah," added Nicky and Alex, pulling on Joey's jersey sleeves.  "Puh-leeeease?" they begged.

"Oh, alright," gave in Joey, yawning.  He sat upright in his bed and rubbed at his eyes.  "I'm up."

"Good," said Jesse, clapping his hands together and climbing out of Joey's bed.  "Oh, and if you want breakfast, you'd better get downstairs fast," he added, after picking up the twins, and proceeding to exit the room.

Upon hearing Jesse's last remark, Joey quickly got out of bed and rushed downstairs.

He entered the kitchen to see Danny, the girls, and Becky already eating pancakes.  "'Morning, Joey," they greeted, in-between bites.

"How did you sleep?" asked Becky.

"Good, you know, until the very end," he replied, glaring at Jesse, who was innocently sitting his sons down in their chairs.

"Well, at least they got you up," remarked Danny, "or else we would never have gotten out of here before all of the tourists took over the beach."  He said the word "tourists" as though he was almost too disgusted to say it.

Joey sat down between D.J. and Stephanie, and served himself two pancakes.  "I'm so excited about today," grinned Stephanie, taking a sip of orange juice.  

"Me too; who knows, maybe I'll bee someone there," said D.J., smiling.

"Now, by 'someone,' you're referring to a friend, right?" asked Danny, putting his "dad face" on.

"Yeah, sure, Dad."

"Aren't you excited, Joey?" asked Michelle.

"Oh yeah, I'm . . . enthusiastic," replied Joey, halfheartedly, clicking his teeth together.

"You don't sound excited.  Is there something wrong?" inquired Becky.

"Well," began Danny, "Joey's just a little worried because-"

"-I haven't been to the beach over summer for a long time, and I don't know how crowded it'll be," interrupted Joey.  "You know how I hate those crowds."

Danny cocked his eyebrow at Joey in question, and Joey responded with a please-don't-tell-the-kids look.  "Right," agreed Danny, nodding.  "Exactly what I was about to say."

D.J., Stephanie, and Michelle looked over at Becky, who shrugged, a perplexed look upon her face.

As Joey ate his breakfast, he began thinking about everything that could happen at the beach: he could somehow end up in the water, face-to-face with a dark shadow of a shark.  Or he could watch as one of his loved ones is attacked by a shark.

A wave of nervousness swept over him as he visualized these possibilities.  "Joey, are you okay?" asked Jesse.  "You look a little . . . anxious."

Joey snapped back into reality.  "Huh?  Oh, no, I feel . . . just fine."  Off of Jesse's worried look, he added, "I promise."  

Jesse nodded, wanting to believe his best friend, but he couldn't seem to shake off the memory of how frightened Joey had been back in Disney, and he didn't want Joey to feel that he _had to come along and fear for the worst, or relive his childhood just so he wouldn't disappoint the kids._

"Well, I'd better go upstairs and get ready," stated D.J., standing up and picking up her plate and glass. 

As D.J. placed her dishes into the sink, Stephanie said, "Yeah, me too," and stood up as well.  Michelle, without a word, got up and ran up the stairs after her sisters.

"I'll got get Nicky and Alex cleaned up," said Becky, looking at the twins, who were covered in the sweet, sticky syrup.  She picked up Alex with her left arm and Nicky with her right arm.  "Okay, do you two want to go take a bath and get a scrubbing before Kimmie comes over?" she asked the boys, as she carried them out of the kitchen.  Their reply of "Yeah!" was heard as the swinging door shut behind them.

Danny, Jesse, and Joey began cleaning up the dirty dishes from the table, quietly.  Danny broke their unusual silence with a question: "So, Joey, why did you not want me to tell the others about your, you know, phobia about the beach today?"  
Joey shook his head.  "I don't know, Dan, I just don't want to ruin the trip for them."

"Well, wouldn't it be better if they _did know?" wondered Jesse, drying off a plate.  "I mean, then they wouldn't pressure you to get into the water."_

Joey put a clean glass into the cabinet before responding.  "That's probably true, but I'm not going to worry about it."

"Really, you're not going to let your fears bother you?" asked Danny, in an amazed voice.

"No, I meant that I'm not going to worry about the girls trying to force me into the water," Joey replied, gesturing with his hands for impact.  "I'm sure that they'll respect me if I tell them that I don't want to get into the water."  Danny and Jesse gave him a knowing look.  "Well, maybe not 'respect me,' in a sense, but at least they'll leave me alone."

"Maybe, but don't get your hopes up, okay Joe?" remarked Jesse.

"Yeah, trust me; my daughters will stop it _nothing to get everyone wet."  He let out a chuckle. "I remember, this one time with Pam, before Michelle was born, when we took D.J. and Stephanie to the beach.  Pam and I told the girls that we didn't want to swim, so they filled their little buckets up with ocean water, snuck up behind us, and dumped the water all over us."  He chuckled again.  "God, I miss her," he mumbled, quietly._

"Well, I'm going to go change," said Jesse, quickly changing the subject, as he noticed the sorrow that was showing on his brother-in-law's face.  He put the last dish into the cabinet and closed the doors.

As Jesse left the kitchen, Danny turned to his best friend, who was drumming his fingers nervously on the count and staring off into space.  "Umm, Joey?" he began, leaning against the refrigerator.  "Are you absolutely _positive_ that you want to come along with us?"

Joey opened his mouth, and then closed it.  When he opened his mouth again, he said unsurely, "Yeah, I can't disappoint your girls."

"They'd get over it.  You could stay home and watch the twins.  I'd rather not have Gibbler come over again.  The last time she watched Nicky and Alex, I came home to find about three pounds of sand on the kitchen floor."  He winced as he remembered that day.  "Apparently, Nicky and Alex wanted a sandbox.  Exactly _how_ they had gotten the sand, I'm still not sure about."  

Danny's gaze drifted back to Joey, who was staring back at him, a confused look on his face.  "Right," he said, turning around and going quickly up the stairs.  

As he entered his bedroom, he pushed his door shut with a *click*.  He opened the bottom door of his dresser and pulled out a red bathing suit.  He sat down on his bed and took off his shoes.  But, instead of continuing to get undressed, he laid on his back and stared at the ceiling.  "Just don't think about it," he told himself.  "Just think about the great day we're going to have."

_But it won't be a great day if you or someone else gets attacked _a faint voice in the back of his head told him.  He shook his head, attempting to rid his mind of that voice: the voice of fear, the voice of worry.

His head snapped up as someone pounded on his door.  "Joey!" called out Stephanie.  "Are you almost ready?"    
He took a deep breath.  "Yeah, I'll be right out."

Not one minute later, Joey came down the stairs.  He saw the family standing at the front door, all of them looking back up at him.  "Are you guys . . . ready to go?" he asked, nearly getting caught on his own voice.  He could feel his heart pounding, but refused to think about what the news report had said the day before.  'Maybe the shark went away,' he thought, hopefully.  'Maybe it, I don't know, died.'

"Almost, we're waiting for Kimmie," replied D.J.

About five seconds after her reply, there was a knock at the door.  Danny, who was standing nearest to the door, opened it to reveal a smiling Kimmie.  "Hey Tanners," she greeted.

Danny, a half-smile on his face and an angry gleam in his eyes, grunted in reply.  "Aw, come on, D," said Kimmie, giving him a playful punch on the arm, "you're not still mad about the whole 'sandbox in the kitchen' incident, are you?"

"Kimmie, I spent four hours in the kitchen with the vacuum that day," he replied.

"So, you forgive me, then?"

Danny sighed.  "Yeah."

As she walked towards the couch, where the twins were sitting, she leaned in to whisper something to D.J.:  "Don't worry; I'm not mad that you didn't invite me to the beach.  After today, I'll be able to afford that perm I've been saving up for."  She nodded for effect, and sat down in-between Nicky and Alex.  "So guys," she said, looking back and forth from the two, "what do you want to do today?"

"Sandbox!" they cried, throwing their arms into the air.

Kimmie laughed nervously, glancing at Danny, who had a look that was either expressing horror or anger.  "Umm, don't you guys have to go?" asked Kimmie, her nervous smile frozen onto her face.

"Yeah," D.J. replied, quickly.  "Let's go."

The seven of them went outside and walked up to the car and began to load their belongings into the trunk.  

As they began to get inside the car (Becky and D.J. in the back, Stephanie, Joey, and Michelle in the middle, and Danny and Jesse in the front), Joey had to keep telling himself, "Nothing will happen," but a nagging thought in the back of his mind made him feel that he was wrong . . . that something _was_ going to happen.  "Nothing will happen."

To Be Continued . . . 

A/N-What will happen?!  Dun dun dun!  *Ahem* I know that last time I said "ten reviews" but I'm not going to worry about it this time.  But do review!!!  I await them anxiously!  


	3. Chapter Three

Disclaimer: See chapter two, which will tell you to see chapter one.

A/N:  Thanks for all of the reviews!  Umm, I have nothing more to say.  *gasp*

**Chapter Three**

The sign *San Francisco Beach-Next Exit* came into view.  The family was discussing all of the many activities that they wanted to do during their time at the beach.

"I am _so_ going to go body surfing," declared D.J.

"What's that?" asked Michelle.

"Well, it's when you wait for a wave and sort of float on it . . . you know, I can't really describe it."

Michelle nodded.  "I see . . . sounds exciting," she said mockingly, to which D.J. responded with a sarcastic nod.

"Well, _I'm_ going to just float on my inflatable tube all day and just . . . relax," said Stephanie, saying "relax" on a long, full breath, and closing her eyes, as though she was imagining it.

"Joey, what are _you _going to do?" asked Michelle.

Joey looked down at her and tapped his teeth together.  "I don't know, Michelle.  There's so much to choose from," he replied, feigning excitement.  "I'll probably just lie down on a towel, underneath that big umbrella," he pointed at the light blue umbrella, which was showing from the trunk, "and try to go to sleep.  I didn't really get to finish last night's sleep," he added, throwing a quick glance at Jesse, who was sitting in the passenger-side seat.

"Aww, Joey, do you mean that you aren't going to go into the water at _all_?" asked D.J.  

Danny looked at Joey, who looked back at him, in his rear-view mirror and raised his eyebrows in an "I told you so" way.  

Joey looked away from Danny's stare to look back at D.J., who was sitting in the back row of the van, next to Becky.  "Well, I might, if I happen to wake up before it's time for us to leave," he replied.  'But I'll make sure that _that_ doesn't happen,' he added in his mind.

D.J. nodded, as though she understood, but Joey's body language was telling her that he was hiding something.  She quickly shook off that assumption, thinking, 'No, Joey would tell all of us if something was wrong,' and thought no more of Joey's uneasiness.  

The exit for the beach came up, and Danny pulled off of the highway.  It did not take long until the beach came into view.  The first thing they all saw was the ocean; in the sunlight, which was unobstructed by clouds, the water appeared to be a perfect shade of aqua.  Already, they could see people, children and adults, splashing about cheerfully in the water, diving underneath the water and appearing after a matter of seconds.

The beach itself then came into view, the nearly white sand shimmering and sparkling in the sun.  On the beach were teens and adults tanning, children building castles, and sand fights.  

The sight of all of the people enjoying themselves, and the beauty of the beach and the day itself, could not help but make the family smile.  "Wow, what a wonderful day," breathed Becky, speaking for everyone in the car.

Everyone nodded, including Joey, although the splendor of the day only assisted in making him even _more_ nervous.  'This is such a great day, and everyone else looks like they're having a great time, but I can't let that influence me,' he told himself, silently.  'I just _know_ that if I get in that ocean, something will happen . . . I can sense it.'  His heart began beating more rapidly, and he inhaled, deeply and slowly, to calm it down.  

The car lurched as Danny parked, somewhat near the entrance to the San Francisco Beach.  "Okay, family, let's unload the back."  He opened his door and walked around to the back and opened the trunk. 

Jesse opened the passenger side door and jumped out, opening the side door.  Michelle hopped out, followed then by Joey.  Stephanie followed, who was then followed by D.J., and finally Becky.  Jesse closed the side door and went to the back of the van. 

As they all were handed items by Danny, Joey frequently glanced at the ocean, wondering where the shark was at that very minute.  He was handed the giant umbrella, and followed Jesse, who was dragging the cooler, to the beach.  

They walked down the cement sidewalk, coming ever closer to the sand.  Joey attempted to breathe regularly, but found that it was becoming harder and harder.  'Don't worry,' he scolded himself. 'Nothing will happen.'  He breathed in . . . and out.  'Nothing will happen,' he thought again.

He stepped onto the off-white sand, hearing and feeling it crunch beneath his shoes.  He looked around at the beach; he hadn't been even _close_ to one since that day when he was young.  'Nothing will happen.'  He followed closely behind Jesse as they searched for a spot large enough to hold their family.

Finally, Jesse came across a large enough area of sand and stopped, rather abruptly.  Joey, not noticing him stop in time, crashed into Jesse's back, nearly causing them both to drop what they were carrying.  "Whoa, watch it," snapped Jesse, placing the cooler on the sand.  "You could put someone's eye out with that."

"Sorry," mumbled Joey, not taking his eyes away from the blue-green water.  Ignoring Jesse's concerned look, Joey opened the giant, light blue umbrella and stabbed the end into the ground and slowly let go of the metal pole: the umbrella stayed in place, unmoving.

 Becky stepped under the umbrella and sat a picnic basket on the ground.  "Huh," she said, looking up at the umbrella, and then around at the spot they had chosen.  "Nice spot, guys."

"Thanks," replied Jesse, sheepishly.  "I guess I know how to choose 'em, huh?" he asked, draping his arm around his wife.  

Joey rolled his eyes, unseen by either Jesse or Becky.  "Yeah, you do," said Becky, giving Jesse a light kiss on the lips.  

D.J., Stephanie, Michelle, and Danny finally approached the group, carrying towels, buckets, plastic shovels, skim boards, underwater masks, as well as many other toys.  Danny carefully laid the towels out on the ground, and the girls dropped the rest of the items atop of the towels.  

"Well, I'm going in the water," said D.J., after a matter of seconds.  She pulled off her large t-shirt and baggy pants and tossed them onto the sand and ran down to the sea.  

Danny groaned in frustration, picking D.J.'s clothes off from the ground and shaking the excess sand from them.  He folded the shirt and pants neatly and laid them on top of one of the towels.  

"I'm going to go lounge in the water now.  Wish me luck!" declared Stephanie, stripping down to her bathing suit and laying the clothes on the towel.  She then grabbed her inflatable tube and sprinted down to the water, about ten feet from where her older sister was.

"Let's go into the water, too, Jess," said Becky.  She quickly pulled off her shirt and jean shorts and walked, rather quickly, down to the shoreline. 

Michelle had gone down to the damp sand and was already beginning to dig a hole, so it was only the three men beneath the umbrella.  Danny and Jesse could sense Joey's unease.  Joey noticed the way his friends were looking at him, and held up his hands.  "Hey, guys, please don't look at me that way, okay?  I'm here, and I'm going to stay right on this towel and take a nap until you leave, alright?  I'm _fine_."

Danny and Jesse nodded, walking down to their family members.  Jesse jumped into the water with his wife and nieces, bringing with him a beach ball.  They began tossing the ball between them, laughing and splashing at each other to cause one of them to miss the ball.

Danny joined Michelle in digging the hole.  Joey could not help but snigger at Danny's attempt to dig without getting dirty.  He sighed and sat down on the towel.  'Maybe I should go in with them.  It doesn't look like anything is going to happen . . . NO!  I can't go in.  I just . . . can't.'  

He sighed again, wishing and yearning to suddenly be unafraid to go in the water.  He wanted desperately to be with his friends, laughing and enjoying himself, but his anxiety was nearly overwhelming; it made him feel almost nauseas.  The churning in his stomach was becoming greater and greater.  

He inhaled deeply, his head dropping.  As he slowly lifted his head, he saw that Michelle and Danny had joined Jesse, Stephanie, and Becky in their game . . . but where was D.J.?  Oh, there she was, talking to some boy.  He envied his friends and the fact that they were not afraid and were having fun, even though he was sitting alone and was miserable.

He sighed once more.  'I'm not going to let my fear keep me away from my family,' he told himself.  'I'm going to go in the water.'  He stood up and stripped off everything except his bathing suit.  _But what if something happens?  There was that voice again.  He shook his head and the voice went away . . . for then._

He splashed into the water, down to where his group was playing.  Danny was the first to notice Joey's coming towards them.  'I guess Joey is ready to face his fear,' he thought, waving at his friend.  "Hey, Joey!"

Joey waved back, slowly wading towards them.  The water was already up to his thighs.  'Why are they so far out?' he asked himself, but didn't think too much of it.  His heart was still racing, but he was beginning to feel better.  "Hey, guys," he greeted, as he finally reached them.  The water was up to his stomach.

"Hey, Joey," Jesse said, surprised to see him out with them.  "You're . . . here."

"I thought you were going to sleep," said Michelle, who was on Jesse's shoulders. 

"You know, I was going to, but I decided that I wasn't that tired," replied Joey, smiling at her.

"Well, I'm glad you decided to join us," stated Becky.  "We're playing a game close to volleyball, except that there are no nets and every person is a team . . . except for Jesse, who has Michelle on his team."

"Okay," said Joey, feeling his anxiety begin to wash away.  He felt at ease with his family, and was glad that he had decided to come out with them.  _You know something is going to happen.  You can still feel it _the voice said.  Joey took a deep breath, trying his best to ignore it.

"Head's up, Joe!" called Jesse, hitting the ball towards his friend.

Joey responded in time, hitting the ball towards Stephanie.  She hit the ball towards Becky, and so on.  The game went like this for almost half-an-hour.  Michelle ended up on Danny's shoulders after a period of time.  

Joey realized, after a brief pause, when Jesse had attempted to set the ball, but it had slipped through his fingers and hit him on the head, flying away from him, that he had not thought about being worried or scared for nearly the entire time, and he was relieved.  'Maybe my fears have gone away, and all it took was to come out here and face them,' he thought.  

Jesse returned with the ball.  "Jess, honey, what exactly were you trying to do when that ball got away from you?" asked Becky, grinning.

"I was _trying_ to set it, you know, so that you would be able to hit it better, but the ball was wet, so it slipped."

Becky giggled.  "Yes, I could see that it slipped.  And it went _way_ over there," she added, pointing far behind Jesse.  

Jesse laughed sarcastically, and then threw the beach ball at her, but it soared far above her head and landed in the water, about ten feet away.  "Nice throw, Jess," chuckled Joey.  

They all watched as the beach ball began to float further and further away from them.  "Okay, can someone go and get the ball, please?" begged Danny, as a teenager on a tube unknowingly kicked the beach ball about twenty or thirty feet away from them.

"I'll get it," volunteered Joey.  He began to walk towards the beach ball.  The water suddenly rose up to his chest.  "Whoa," he whispered.  As the water slowly got deeper, Joey began to swim towards the ball.  He got about three feet from it when the voice came back: _Something's about to happen.  Something's about to happen . . ._

Joey felt the nausea return as his stomach began churning once again.  But he did not immediately turn around.  He reached and grabbed the beach ball, pulling it into his chest.  "Got it," he whispered, as he turned around and began swimming towards his friends. 

The water slowly got shallower and he could finally stand upright.  He was about fifteen or twenty feet from his group, who were watching him and waiting.

Joey's gaze drifted down to the nearly crystal clear water.  Suddenly, he froze as he felt something stroke his leg.  His heart beat uncontrollably fast, and all the breath seemed to be sucked from him.  

He looked around at the water.  His eyes grew wide as he saw just the smallest tip of a fin graze the top of the water.  He felt something stroke his leg again.  He looked at his group, who was looking at him, confused.  "Joey?" Danny called.

Joey faintly heard someone call his name.  All he could think about was that day at the beach with his father . . . the shark, the bite, the pain . . .

Joey could feel something sharp sink into his leg.  He sucked in his breath.  _It's happening again . . . It's happening again . . ._

He began to sway, everything was getting dark.  The beach ball floated away from his grip.  "Joey?" he heard again.  

Everything was getting darker.  He could faintly see Danny begin to move towards him.  "Joey?!" Danny called again.

Everything was pitch black.  He could feel himself fall.  He could feel the water surround him.  He could feel himself hit the sandy bottom below and lay, unmoving.  He could barely hear someone call his name.  He could feel the water move as someone splashed towards him.  

It was becoming harder and harder to breathe.  He could feel his lungs beg for air, but he could not respond to their wishes.  He felt the heat of the sun beating down on him through the water.  

He laid on the sandy bottom for what seemed like an eternity.  Why was no one there helping him?  Before he slipped into unconsciousness, he could feel a hand grip his arm and pull him up . . . 

_Why did this happen . . . ?_

To Be Continued . . .

A/N: Ooh!  Cliffhanger, sort of.  Well, please review!  I await patiently!  Okay, not "patiently," but whatever . . . 


	4. Chapter Four

Disclaimer: See chapter three, which will tell you to see chapter two, which will tell you to see chapter one. *whew*

A/N: My last chapter for this story.  I hope you enjoy!  Oh, and thanks for reviewing!

**Chapter Four**

"Joey, Joey . . . can you hear me?"  Danny Tanner was holding onto his friend, in order to keep Joey's head above the water. 

"Danny, what happened?" asked Jesse, who had come over to his brother-in-law's side.

"I don't know," admitted Danny, beginning to panic; he didn't think that Joey was breathing, and he had no idea as to what had happened.  He looked down to see a small dolphin swim past his leg.  'Joey seemed that he was doing okay . . . what happened?' he thought, anxiously.

Suddenly, two lifeguards appeared in front of Danny and Jesse: a man and a woman.  "What happened?" the female lifeguard asked, looking at Joey.  

Danny shook his head.  He didn't know what had happened to his best friend, but all he wanted was for someone to help him, which no one seemed to be doing.  All anyone was doing was asking him what had happened.

"Here, give him to me," the male lifeguard commanded.  Danny let the lifeguard take Joey from him and watched as the lifeguards quickly took him to the shore, where a small crowd was already forming.

Danny and Jesse exchanged concerned looks, and then followed the lifeguards up to the beach.  They pushed through the crowd, which was slowly growing larger, to find that Joey had been laid on the ground.  The male lifeguard was a few feet away from the swarm of people, and was dialing nine-one-one on a cell phone.

The female lifeguard was checking to see if Joey was breathing.  "He's not breathing," she stated, alarm showing clearly in her voice.

As she began to administer CPR, Becky, Stephanie, D.J., and Michelle had come up and stood alongside Jesse and Danny.  "Is he going to be okay?" asked Becky, her voice shaky.

Danny shrugged, and Jesse said, sadly, "We don't know."  

The three girls stood watching.  D.J. and Stephanie were in shock.  They stood with their mouths agape, fear showing in their eyes.

Michelle did not completely understand what was going on.  "Joey?" she whimpered.  "Daddy," she began, tapping Danny on the side, "is Joey okay?"

Danny sighed deeply and picked her up.  "We don't know, honey," he whispered.  He rested his head against his daughter's, inhaling deeply.  Michelle could feel her father's heart beating against her shoulder.

Finally, after nearly one minute of CPR, Joey began to cough, water spilling out of his mouth onto the sand.  He coughed for a few seconds before laying his head down on the ground and passing out again, but breathing regularly. 

By that time, an ambulance had arrived.  Two people came up to Joey and loaded him onto a gurney.  As they began to wheel him towards the ambulance, Danny, Jesse, Becky, and the girls all ran to catch up.  "Excuse me, sir, but could one of us come with him?" Danny asked.

"Are you family?" the man asked, while loading the gurney into the ambulance. 

"Yes," replied Danny, without hesitation.

"Then, yes, one of you may ride along."

Danny looked back at his family, a pleading look in his eye.  "You go, Danny," said Becky.  "We'll follow you in the van."  Danny looked at Jesse, who nodded.

Danny climbed into the ambulance and sat down beside the gurney and looked down at Joey's form, which was completely still, except for the continuous rise and fall of his chest.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Joey awoke to the sound of a constant beeping sound.  He felt a pillow under his head and a thin blanket over him.  Even though he had not yet opened his eyes, he knew that he was in a hospital.

He refused to open his eyes, for he knew that him family was there in his room.  He heard a door open, and then the click as the door shut.  "Dr. Cooper," Joey immediately recognized Jesse's voice, "is he going to be okay?"

Joey heard a fluttering of papers before the doctor responded.  "Mr. Gladstone will be just fine," Dr. Cooper replied in a deep raspy voice.  "He nearly drowned, though.  There was a lot of salt water in his lungs.  How did you say this happened?"

There was a brief pause before someone responded.  "We're not exactly sure," Danny said.  "He was coming towards us when all of a sudden, he froze.  Then he collapsed and fell to the bottom of the water.  I came towards him as fast as I could, but you know how hard it is to run in the water."

"Hmm."  Joey heard Dr. Cooper scribble something down.  "So you do not know exactly _how this happened?"_

"Right."

Another pause.  "Well, we'll keep Mr. Gladstone here overnight for observation, but he can go home first thing tomorrow morning."  Silence . . . Joey guessed that they were all nodding their heads for response.

"When do you think that he'll wake up?" asked Becky.  Joey could hear the concern in her voice.

"Oh, anytime now," replied Dr. Cooper.  "You're welcome to stay until visiting hours are over, which will be in about an hour and a half."

"Okay, thank you."  Joey heard the door open and close once again.  He could hear footsteps approaching his bed and stop.  Joey knew that they were all standing around him, but he could not bear to open his eyes just yet.

"He looks so peaceful," said Becky, quietly.  'Peaceful?' Joey repeated, in his mind.  'I am so embarrassed, and mad at myself for doing this to them.  I am quite the opposite of peaceful.'

"I know," whispered Danny.  

Silence . . .

Joey sighed deeply and rolled his head so that he was facing up.  "Joe, are you waking up?" asked Jesse, hopefully.

"Yeah," Joey grunted, opening his eyes.  As his vision cleared, he saw six pairs of worried eyes looking at him: what he had feared would happen.

"Joey, how are you feeling?" asked Danny.

"I feel . . . pretty good."  Joey pushed him self into a sitting position.

"Whoa, hold it," said Jesse, pushing Joey back down to the bed.  "Stay there.  You need to rest."

Joey rolled his eyes, but stayed put.  "So, Joey, can you tell us what happened?"

"Was it a shark?" asked Michelle, her eyes growing wide.

Joey looked at her in shock.  "You _told_ them?" he asked, looking at Danny and Jesse.

"We had to," replied Danny, cocking an eyebrow at him.

Joey nodded, understanding.  "I'm . . . not really sure what happened."  He knew immediately that what he had said was a lie.  "I mean . . ." He sighed.  "You know when I was walking back to you guys, and I just froze?" 

"Yeah."

"Well, I felt something touch my leg.  Then I saw a fin . . . and something touched my leg again.  I got so scared that I just . . ." He stopped, knowing that they knew what he meant.

"Oh, well, Joey, when I came to get you, I saw something with a fin near you," said Danny.

"You did?  What was it?"

Danny let out a nervous chuckle.  "Joe, I think that it was just a dolphin."

Joey blushed to a deep shade of red.  "Oh, my God," he groaned.  "This is so embarrassing.  I can't believe that I did what I did."  He covered his face with his hands.

"Well, Joey, we can't blame you.  You were just scared.  Had it been any of us, we probably would've done the exact same thing."

"You would've passed out and nearly drowned?" asked Joey. 

"Well, maybe not the _exact same thing, but we weren't in your place.  None of us had experienced what you had to experience all those years ago."  _

"I guess . . ."  

"Joey, why did you go into the water anyway?" asked Stephanie.

"I just saw all of you having such a great time, and I wanted to be a part of it.  I was feeling a little left out."

"Adults feel left out, too?  Great, I thought it went away after school ended," mumbled Stephanie.

They all talked for an hour and a half, when Dr. Cooper poked his head into the doorway.  "Sorry, but visiting hours are over."

Jesse, Danny, Becky, D.J., Stephanie, and Michelle all stood up.  "We'll be back for you tomorrow morning, Joey, first thing," promised Jesse.

"Okay, thanks guys."  Joey smiled at them as they left his room.  His smile faded as he realized that he would be alone until about eight in the morning the next day.  He saw a remote sitting on the stand next to his bed.  He picked it up and turned on the television.

The first thing that Joey saw was the news.  "This is Cheryl Ropman, reporting from the beach, where the shark that has been threatening our residents' summers has been caught and put in the San Francisco Zoo, where it had been, until the zoo owners decided to release it back into the ocean.  Upon learning that the shark had been coming close to beach-goers, they have decided to keep it in the zoo-"

Joey quickly changed the channel.  'So, the shark's been caught.  I guess if they ever wanted to go back to the beach, it'd be okay . . ." Just thinking about the beach and the water gave Joey that nervous feeling in his stomach again.  _You nearly died.  You can't go back in that water.  What if it happens again?_

'But the shark was caught.  It won't happen again because I'll know that the shark isn't there.'

_That shark isn't there, but what if there's another one?  'But I can't live my life off of a "what if."'  __It's always been okay before . . . you've been safe._

'But what about today?  I was so scared that something was going to happen that it nearly killed me . . . literally.  No, if they want to go back, I'll be up for it.  And I _won't stay on the beach.'_

Silence.  The voice of voice of fear that had been plaguing him ever since he knew about the shark was gone.  He breathed a sigh of relief and began flipping the channels.  

As he landed on a cartoon, he felt that everything was beginning to come together.  He smiled.  The girls would be home for the rest of the summer, but maybe _next time they could all just go to a movie . . ._

***Finis***

A/N:  Well, Joey had a 'Gollum from Lord of the Rings' moment there.  Well, I've finished another story.  YEA!!!!  Please review!  


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